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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Elections the biggest festival in the nation starts in a few hours from now. Everywhere the tension is palable.Fingers are crossed people are at wits end both voters and candidates and then there is of course the flow of money like water. And in the midst of all this what we here about is that the future is here. World economy is shifting its balance towards the east now; India is becoming the new economic boom so the next government must be able to hold the flame together the flame of development we have generated in the past few decades. These are also however perilous .The economy has not revived yet. We are in an era of global meltdown where the concept of neoliberalism is being rebuilt.

So instead of the government let us talk about the opposition and the important role it has to play in the coming years. The last time elections were held, BJP failed with its shining India campaign and LK Advani came out brave words that “We will behave like a responsible opposition.”This responsibility however was sadly missing. No issue was seriously taken up in the Parliament. Not a single issue was raised properly in the Lok Sabha. The Communists because of their usual legacy differed on the nuclear deal issue and walked out of the government; even then the BJP was much more muted in its response. Then the issue of terrorism raised its ugly head the BJP suddenly woke up from its slumber BJP leaders were seen in every forum everywhere, denouncing Congress on all fronts. But as usual even that momentum they couldn’t set it right .Meanwhile elections approached and suddenly LK Advani began to appear everywhere on the net asking for votes. Suddenly after 5 years the BJP woke as if by a shock, the momentum took even Congress by surprise. But then the surprise was the party being noncommittal about its commitment about behaving like a proper opposition. In all these years the only real opposition to the Government was the media an apart from that nothing else. So where does BJP stand now.

The problems with BJP are galore. First and foremost is the dearth of young leaders. Congress has in its ranks not only Rahul Gandhi but also people like Sachin Pilot ,Jyotirada Schindia ,Milind Deora .These leaders are the ones with whom the today’s youth can associate themselves but BJP has none. True there is an occasional Prodyut Bora in the BJP but that’s an exception. The old warehouses like Arun Jaitley have lost the charisma the possessed five years ago and are now contend playing petty politics with business men like Sudhansu Mittal.They seem onle a shadow of their former self now. It seems like there is no leader in BJP tomorrow. They could have found a new scion in Varun Gandhi but instead chose to make him a Hindutva icon which was very shortsighted planning since in the long term it will already add up to its communal image.BJP was once famously called a party with a difference , a cadre based party. Now men like Sudhansu Mittal are given top party posts, men who were hitherto unknown. Another major debacle the BJP created for themselves was by not letting young Shahnawaz Hussian take the centrestage. People thought that in these elections at least the BJP will forecast him in a major way, since not only does he possess a certain charm essential in politics but also it would negate its communal image in a long way. True the transisition from complete saffron lotus to a green petealed lotus is palable but it is also essential to look into the ranks of the party. If BJP does win these elections and LK Advani becomes the prime minister; what if he falls sick suddenly who will take his place. That is going to be the major fallacy.BJP needs young dynamic leaders who can lead the people tomorrow not only in the government but also as a strong opposition. The success of BJP as an opposition is essential in every sense of the term if we want to see a stronger and a better nation tomorrow. The BJP should realize that there is no shame in being a strong opposition but there is shame in being a weak opposition which gets active only during elections. Elections are not won only on anti incumbency factor sometimes it must fight on issues as well because that will make it stand out.

The Congress however if they really care about the nation should make a not of this fact. Without a strong opposition there is always a risk. In a democracy a strong opposition non existence does not mean an autocratic government ,since all forms of social vigilance are active .However a strong opposition is needed to counter the government on some issues which are essentially discussed in the parliament. There is another major crisis in this, Congress, BJP are the two chief nationalistic parties in the nation. The BJP is on a way of erosion and what if the structure of the Congress suddenly falls what if there is anti incumbency after the distengration of the BJP. This will lead to catastrophic consequences. If these two parties are not a part of the government then a major crisis will take place. A mixture of regional parties will form the government and an era of regionalism will start. States will start demanding more locally thus the development of the country as a whole will start to take a backseat .States like UP which sends about 80 MP’s will have major share while the states like Goa will see nothing in terms of development. An era of regionalism will emerge which will threaten the very existence of the nation.

Thus for the very existence of the nation both the two parties are essential since a nations development can be brought up only by a single nationalist party. Therefore it is essential that the BJP revives their strategy while the Congress makes sure that their ranks never go the BJP way since if that happens the nation will be in dire straits.